Out of Mind
by Azabeth Knight
Summary: What happens when Brennan realizes that there might be more to her dreams than just simple nightmares...
1. Feeling her

**OUT OF MIND**

**Summary: **What happens when Brennan realises that there might be more to her dreams than just simple nightmares.

**Rating: **PG-13 for possible language, violence and adult situations.

**Pairing: **Eventually E/B

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the ideas behind Mutant X etc, (because if I did Emma would still be alive you evil PowersThatBe!) No profit has been made from this story.

**Authors note: **I miss the original characters, so my stories come from a season 1 point of view. Sorry Lexa fans, but she won't feature in this story. Also, I'm trying to adapt my style of writing to make it easier to read. Let me know how I'm doing, constructive criticism is always welcome : )

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"You're just sulking 'cause you lost!" Jesse goaded his friend, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"I'm not! And besides, you cheated." Brennan glared back at the molecular.

"Aw come on Brennan, that's the first time I've ever really beaten you, you should be proud of my advances."

"And I say again, you cheated! You massed out right when I threw that punch. Trust me Jesse, I know your stomach is not naturally that hard, you don't work out nearly enough."

At that moment, Shalimar appeared jumping lightly down from the ceiling rafters.

"What are you boys fighting over?"

"Brennan's pissed off 'cause I just beat him in the sim."

"Don't listen to him Shal, you know he's lying."

"I don't care who's beaten who, all I care about is that my dinners getting cold and if I don't eat soon, I'm the one who's going to be grouchy. Get to that table and sit down."

The boys followed the feral into the kitchen, Jesse still beaming from his recent victory over Brennan. The elemental in question had seated himself on the opposite side of the table and was currently planning ways to extract his revenge upon his friend. Shaking the rather nasty thoughts out of his mind, Brennan looked up and realized that there was still an empty place at the table.

"Where's Emma?"

"I don't know, she's kind of been spending a lot of time by herself recently." Shalimar replied. In truth, she had noticed that Emma had been avoiding the group lately and appeared tired and withdrawn.

"Yeah, I've noticed." Brennan replied, "I tried to get her to come out with us last night but she refused." He too was worried about the young psionic, she had a knack for getting herself into difficult situations and keeping quiet about them until it was nearly too late. Just at that moment, the object of his musings appeared in the kitchen.

"Hey Emma."

Emma looked up as Brennan spoke, her expression rather glazed.

"Hey guys, I just came to get a glass of water."

"Aren't you going to sit down to dinner with us?" Shalimar looked disappointed.

"Sorry Shal, I'm really not hungry at the moment. You three go ahead, I'll get something later." Brennan looked for a moment as if he were going to say something more to persuade her to stay, but before he had the chance; she had turned and walked out of the kitchen.

"Are you guys coming out tonight?" Shalimar asked, trying to change the slightly sombre mood that seemed to have settled over the dinner table.

"No way, I've had enough rejection for one week. I'll stay and make sure Emma eats something later."

Jesse started laughing but Shalimar just looked confused.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Shal, Brennan tried it on with this girl the other night, thought he was doing really well too, until he saw her making out with her _girl-friend _a few minutes later."

"Oh well, guess we'll see you later then." Shalimar said, laughing now as well.

"Ouch," Jesse felt a shock hit his leg under the table, making him jump.

"Sorry, my hand slipped." The elemental didn't look sorry at all.

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Brennan looked over at the clock... it was 2 am, Jesse and Shalimar had still not returned from the club. He wondered for a minute if he should have swallowed his pride and gone with them. No, they'd be okay; they were both more than capable of taking care of themselves. He put down the book he was reading and went for a walk to stretch his legs.

When he entered the main room, he saw Emma asleep on the couch. He had gone to check on her earlier, as he said he would, but she had gotten annoyed with his pestering and told him to leave her alone. Looking at her now, she seemed troubled even in her sleep. Her face seemed thinner, he noticed; he supposed she hadn't eaten anything at all today. Perhaps they should speak to Adam, something might be going wrong in her mutation that was affecting her like this.

As he watched her, he noticed her becoming more restless, tossing and turning on the couch. In a minute she was going to roll right off. Suddenly her body started jerking and Brennan could see he lips moving, as though she was trying to scream. Feeling really concerned now, he bent over her and placed his hand on her shoulder in the hope of waking her out of whatever nightmare she seemed to be having.

The sensation as he touched her was all-consuming. He felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. Blinking, he realized he was surrounded by darkness. He could hear a noise getting louder and louder until in a whirl Brennan's ears were assaulted by ear-splitting screams of pain. His heart pounding he looked around trying to see through the pitch. Images started swirling around him. Blood, someone's tears, a knife, bound hands, a pair of blue eyes -wide open in terror, a body writhing in agony as the pain was inflicted upon it.

"Oh my god!" Brennan felt sick, he tried to pull away from the confusion and pain surrounding him, and everything went black again...

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_Let me know what you think, love A._


	2. Telling him

**OUT OF MIND** _continued..._

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As Brennan opened his eyes again, he found himself kneeling at the foot of the couch, his hands clutching his stomach. Looking at the small form in front of him, he realized Emma's eyes were opening too. She was breathing hard and jumped a little as she noticed him kneeling beside her.

"Brennan? What's going on," She looked as confused as he felt.

"You tell me, what the hell was that?"

"What?"

"I found you asleep on the couch and I touched your shoulder to wake you up and bam! I saw...I don't know, but it was horrible." Brennan didn't want to voice the images he had seen, he still felt shaky from the experience.

Emma's eyes grew wide. She sat bolt upright and put a hand to her head.

"God Brennan, I'm so sorry. I must have projected onto you by accident. I swear I didn't mean to."

"So you sucked me into your dream? How?" Shit, he thought, why the hell do I suddenly feel like a guilty intruder in someone else's mind.

"I don't know, I guess I still have problems controlling my powers at times of intense emotion. You must have startled me and my mind just reached out to the nearest person."

"Your dream Em, it seemed pretty...em... graphic." She looked down. Suddenly Brennan had the suspicion that it wasn't the first time Emma had experienced a dream like that. Was this the reason she had become so withdrawn lately, she was seeing horrifying visions in her sleep.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about, it was just a bad dream." It wasn't the truth, and they both knew it. Emma closed her eyes in frustration; her sleep had been so disturbed for the last few weeks she was hardly getting any rest. She had hoped that the nightmares might just subside, but the visions seemed to be getting worse. Still, Brennan didn't seem to have really understood the images he saw in her head, and for that she was relieved. He couldn't know...

"You should go back to bed and try and get some actual sleep." She opened her eyes again as Brennan spoke, his voice laced with concern. But she knew she couldn't go back to bed now. She shuddered involuntarily at the thought,

"No I think I'll just make a drink," The psionic moved to get up but Brennan grabbed her arm, his fingers warm against her cool skin,

"Em, sit down. You're afraid, aren't you, afraid to go back to sleep." She trembled slightly, 'from the cold,' her mind insisted.

"Just try to relax, okay."

"It's silly though, to get so worked up over a stupid dream."

"It's not silly Em. I saw it, seeing images like that in your sleep would be enough to upset anyone." Her jaw tensed as she wrestled internally with herself. It was no good, she had felt so completely drained recently, she just had to tell someone,

"That's just it though, I'm not seeing it Bren, it's actually happening to me." She didn't look at him as she spoke, she couldn't bear to see the look in his eyes.

Brennan was starting to feel sick again. 'Oh god, no!' he thought, his mind somersaulting, 'the screams, the person being tortured like that, it was her. Those horrifying things, they were all happening to her." Brennan shuddered now as he saw again the image of the pale blue eyes, and the face, contorted in pain.

The elemental took a deep breath and looked at his friend sitting next to him on the couch. She seemed so vulnerable. An intense need to protect her suddenly rushed through him.

"I can stay here if you like, sit with you for a while. If you start having nightmares again I can try to wake you up." Emma blinked at him. 'I must be tired,' she realized, 'if I'm actually considering this.' But then she shook her head,

"I might suck you in again."

"I'll risk it. Come on Em, you have to try and get some rest." She was so tired, so exhausted. What harm could it do if she let him sit here with her for a while? Everyone felt safe with Brennan, it was simply a quality he had about him. She sighed, and hardly realized as her eyes started to close, and her head lolled sideways, finding his shoulder as if by instinct.

Brennan listened as Emma's breathing started to slow; the poor girl must have been completely drained, but he hoped that somehow, his presence might help calm her. Wondering if it was because she was a psionic, that her dreams played out so vividly, he realised that he had never really considered the true implications of Emma's mutation. Sure, they all had altered physiologies, but her alteration was in her head; how differently did things affect a person with telempathic abilities? Perhaps she even felt pain in a different way from normal people.

He shifted slightly to allow her head to sit more comfortably against his shoulder and realised that she had fallen asleep. Not having the heart to wake her just yet, he lent back on the couch and allowed his arm to drape across her shoulder, in an effort to warm her cold body.

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It was late, or considerably early, depending on how one chose to look at it, as Shalimar glanced at the two sleeping figures on the couch. Having deposited a comatose Jesse in his room, the feral had noticed that neither of her other two friends were in their own rooms. She stared at them now, her feral eyes narrowing slightly as she observed them. For a moment, she felt a small surge of jealousy seeing them curled up together like that, but quickly dismissed it. Emma still looked pale and troubled. Shalimar hoped that maybe Brennan had gotten her to open up about the cause of her recent withdrawal. Her worry for her friend overcoming any less charitable and insecure thoughts she was having, the feral turned, and using her cat-like stealth, silently exited the room.

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_This was written very late at night, so you'll have to excuse the poor grammar!_

_Thanks for the reviews everyone, you've kept me smiling : )_


	3. Being with them

**OUT OF MIND** _continued ..._

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As Emma awoke, she suddenly became very aware of two things. Firstly, she was not in her bed. Secondly, she seemed to lying half on top of a warm, solid body, whose grip around her waist was preventing her from moving off the couch. She blushed as she realized that they must have fallen asleep together like this, and was silently relieved that no one else seemed to be up yet.

"Brennan!"

"Hey," the elemental yawned and released his hold on his friend. He seemed slightly disorientated for a moment, before remembering where he was.

"Morning, I guess I must have drifted off as well." He stretched and Emma moved off the couch to stand up. He looked at her, memories of what he had seen last night came flooding back. "How did you sleep?"

"Better actually." She smiled at him reassuringly, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it" He was glad to see that she seemed to have gotten some rest, she looked less pale anyway.

Emma meanwhile, was wondering what would happen now. She thought Brennan would probably want to talk about it, but she really couldn't bring herself to go into what she was experiencing. The pain was too fresh. Still, she had to admit; she hadn't had any more dreams with him there. His presence had seemed to have a positive effect.

"Brennan, please don't say anything to the others, I don't want everyone looking at me in sympathy, like I'm losing my mind or something."

"If that's what you want. I still think you need to talk to Adam though."

"No, I can handle this on my own. Please Bren, promise you won't say anything."

"Okay." Brennan sighed. She might look a little better but that didn't stop him worrying about her. He watched her leave as she returned to her room to get showered and changed, then heaved himself off the couch to start breakfast.

A few minutes later, Shalimar bounded into the kitchen. She had the lucky distinction of an extremely fast recovery time from late nights. Something to do with her metabolism, Adam had said. The others always complained how unfair it was, the morning after a night out, when they would all be nursing hangovers and Shalimar would be jumping about like she had slept for a week.

"Morning Shal, have fun with Jesse last night."

Shalimar was almost going to ask him about what had happened with Emma last night, but she stopped herself. Nothing had happened, she was sure of that, and all she would do was cause an argument. Instead, she grinned at Brennan and launched into a full account of their night, finishing with the part where a drunken Jesse had nearly picked a fight with some giant and Shalimar had dragged him out quickly before any trouble erupted.

They were both laughing hard when they were joined by the friend in question. Jesse stumbled into the kitchen, his eyes still half closed, holding his head as though it were a delicate piece of china.

"Ughhhh...."

"Morning Jess, want some coffee," Jesse just groaned again

"What is that noise? My head feels like it's about to explode!"

"Just the boiler, mate," answered Brennan, still chuckling slightly, " plus I'm sure there's still a bit of last nights music hammering away in there." Jesse glared at him, clearly not amused.

"So did you have a good night?" The elemental asked innocently.

"Shalimar, got me drunk!" He glared at the feral, "I don't remember much really, I don't even remember getting home."

"That's 'cause you passed out and I had to carry you to bed" Shalimar smirked.

"Awww, the little sleeping beauty."

"Shut it!" Jesse dropped himself into a seat at the table and nursed the coffee Shalimar had handed him.

"So what did you two get up to last night?" The question was innocently directed towards Brennan, and the feral made sure to keep her voice matter of fact.

"Nothing." he shrugged. Shalimar eyed him suspiciously but he had already turned away from her.

"So Jess, are you up for a rematch in the dojo?" If looks could kill, Brennan was sure he would now be a pile of ashes, inconvienently dirtying the kitchen floor.

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Emma sat by the pool, staring into it's rippling depths. She liked the way the movement of the water caused the light to reflect and refract, bouncing shimmering patters all around the room. Emma closed her eyes. She had come here to concentrate. She needed to get a better control over her mind if she wanted to get a grip of these nightmares. Relaxing her breathing, she began to work through the exercises, keeping her mind clear and focused.

She sensed it as soon as her friend entered the room.

"Emma." Not bothering to apologise for disturbing her friend, the feral jumped up the steps and sat down beside her.

"We missed you at breakfast again," Shalimar gently brushed a stay piece of hair out of her young friends eyes. She knew something was up with Emma, and couldn't help feeling slightly hurt that the psionic seemed so reluctant to confide in her. Emma said nothing, it was clear to the blonde that she would sit meditating all day unless someone physically forced her to move.

"Seeing as it's been quiet on the GSA front recently, we're taking advantage of the free time and going to a movie together. Come on, get your coat, the boys are already getting the car." Shalimar could see the protest already forming on the redhead's lips.

"Come on Emma, no excuses, you're coming! You need to get out more, that's an order."

"You can't give me orders."

"Fine, I'll get Adam to issue one. Either way, you're coming out. A good movie and a nice dinner is just what you need." Emma could see she wasn't going to win, so allowed Shalimar to drag her to her feet.

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This had definitely been a good idea, Emma though as she sat in the restaurant a few hour later. The movie had been quite good, despite Shalimar's complaining about the male-dominated action in the film. She and Brennan had spent the walk from the movie theatre to the restaurant arguing about the fact that only men ever seemed to get to do the car chases. Emma and Jesse had watched them amused, following arm in arm.

The only mistake she had made that evening, the psionic realised, was pointing out the sign on the door as they entered the Steak house. "Finish a 30-pound steak dinner and your meal is free!" The white banner had announced. So it was really all her fault, Jesse proclaimed later, that the competition had began. Brennan, still smarting from the sparring match the previous day, had challenged Jesse to see who could finish their meal first. Shalimar had wrinkled her nose as the huge slabs of meat had been produced, and made some comment under her breath about testosterone and male competitiveness.

It was nearly two hours later that Brennan leaned back in his seat, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Yes! I win! One clean plate, which makes one free 30 pound steak for me. Hard luck man." Jesse stared dejectedly at his own, still unfinished piece of meat.

"You guys are pigs," Emma frowned, still hardly able to believe the amount of food she had just witnessed her team-mates consume. Jesse was groaning again,

"Oh, I think I'm going to be sick!" He pushed his plate away, trying to ignore Brennan, who was still basking in his triumph.

"Actually, eating a piece of steak that size takes a lot of skill. You have to set the right pace, take just the right sized bites..."

"And basically stuff your face 'till you want vomit." Emma finished. Brennan grinned at her, about to reply when the molecular jumped up from the table.

"I'm going to the bathroom!"

"Poor Jesse, he finally gets over his hangover and now he's throwing up again." Emma said, sympathetically. "This is entirely your fault you know,"

"What can I say, I guess I'm just the better man,"

"You think this is impressive to women?" Shalimar asked disbelievingly.

"What can I say," Brennan grinned mischievously at her, and leaned back, accenting his chest muscles, "I guess some guys just have it." As Shalimar snorted and turned away in irritation, Brennan caught Emma's eye and winked at her. She shock her head, sometimes those two could be so impossible. The elemental was saved from Shalimar's comeback by the arrival of the waiter, carrying the Chocolate Decadence cake that Emma had been just unable to resist.

"Your dessert, Madam,"

"Thank you," Emma smiled and took a mouthful of the cake, looking wickedly over towards Brennan.

"You want to try a piece Bren?" He shook his head firmly, a slightly greenish tinge creeping over his complexion. "Aw come on," Emma leaned over to him, pushing her dessert closer, "Just look at that thick, rich chocolate, oozing through it..." That was all it took. Brennan leapt up from the table and followed after Jesse, making a beeline for the men's bathroom. Shalimar laughed,

"Did you use your powers?"

"Didn't need to, I knew just looking at another piece of food would finish him off. I've been sensing his discomfort for the last half hour." The two girls looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Yes, Emma decided, it had definitely been a good evening. Originally she had intended just to put on a happy front to stop the others worrying, but as the evening wore on, she had definitely started to relax. Brennan had kept looking over at her, as if to check she was all right. A part of her was secretly quite pleased to see this caring side of him. And she hadn't even thought about the dreams once- maybe tonight, she would actually get some rest.

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_Thank you for the reviews guys : ) Your kind words keep me inspired. The next part is already written so should be posted shortly..._


	4. Trusting him

**OUT OF MIND** _continued..._

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Brennan was awake again; the sheer volume of food he had consumed at dinner had been forcing him to make regular trips to the bathroom all night. Plodding wearily back to his room, he couldn't help but notice Shalimar's door was ajar. Unable to resist the urge to glace the feral in her relaxed and vulnerable state, (something very seldom witnessed,) Brennan peeked around the door. Her bed was empty, however. He wondered for a moment if he should be concerned, but figured she'd probably just gone for one of her nocturnal walks. She was a creature of the night after all. He withdrew his head quickly, lest she appear suddenly behind him and witness his thin attempt to spy on her as she slept; he really didn't feel up to combat with an irate feral tonight.

He stopped again as he passed Emma's room. She had been better today. They had all been relieved when she had agreed to come out with them; at least she had eaten some proper food. Still, he couldn't help but think that she might just be putting on a brave face to stop everyone asking her questions. Something was disturbing her mind, and it wasn't likely to go away with one evening out. As he continued to stare at her door, he realised that there were noises coming from the other side.

Carefully, Brennan pressed his ear against the solid surface and listened. He could hear muffled sounds of movement, as if someone was struggling inside. But this was Sanctuary, he reminded himself; no one could possibly get into her room. She must be dreaming again.

The though made Brennan's blood run cold as he remembered the pain he had experienced when he had caught that glimpse of her dream last night. He didn't think he could bear to see the hurt in those blue eyes again,

"Emma!" Brennan hammered on her door with his fist, desperately trying to wake her out of whatever nightmare had her in its grip.

"Emma, it's me... open the door! EMMA!" But it was fruitless. He could still hear thrashing from inside her room. Trying not to let his frustration get the better of him, Brennan took a deep breath and then shot an electricity bolt at the door lock with two fingers. The shock to the circuits caused her door to open immediately and the elemental rushed in, blinking in the near darkness.

He could see her in the bed, her sheets twisted as she fought against her invisible foe. Her breath seemed to be coming in short, desperate pants,

"Emma, come on, snap out of it!" He shouted, reluctant for a moment to touch her in case she connected with his mind again. Her face was wet, with tears or sweat, he couldn't tell. Suddenly a small sob escaped her lips and her head jerked back, as if she had been struck. That was too much for Brennan, he damned the consequences and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her hard and willing her to regain consciousness.

"Emma, it's just a dream, come on, wake up!"

Her eyes flew and she gasped, taking in huge gulps of breath. It was a few moments before she realised Brennan was at her side, having apparently saved her from her nightmares once again. She gazed into his eyes and saw the worry reflected there.

"Thank you."

Relief flooded through his body as he heard her speak and without thinking he wrapped his arms around her and engulfed her in a hug. Emma leaned into him, the protection she felt radiating from his strong, muscular, body calmed her. Gradually, her heart rate began to return to normal and he relaxed his hold on his friend. He ran his thumb across her cheeks in an effort to wipe away the dampness still clinging to them.

She smiled at his gesture. "You make a great human hankie'"

He grinned; trust Emma to make an effort to diffuse the situation with humour, "Glad to be of service madam." As he looked into her pale face, however, he could see the fear still etched in her features. Carefully pushing her hair back with his fingers, he looked at her seriously,

"Emma, we need to..."

"Don't Bren..." She took a hold of his hands and brought them into her lap, stilling their movement. He could feel her palms, damp beneath his hands, and couldn't help but notice a slight shaking as she looked desperately at him.

"Emma, you have to trust someone. Trust me, please..." he rubbed her hands gently as he spoke, at the same time trying to still his thoughts, so she wouldn't find any cause for agitation there, if she chose to look. "Talk to me, Em."

She sighed, her resolve folding, and finally nodded. Despite the tangle of her bedding, she made no move to extract herself but merely motioned him to sit beside her on the bed. He did so gingerly, not wanting to crowd her, in case it caused her more panic.

"I can't explain it but they seem to be getting worse," Brennan knew what she was referring to.

"Look Em, I know I was in there last night, but I didn't really understand much of what I saw through the confusion. Tell me what actually goes on." He noticed her lip tremble, but she took a steadying breath, and started to explain...

"Things change slightly, but for the most part the visions are the same. There's a man, I can't really see him, but i can hear his voice. I'm trapped in a room, or sometimes chained to wall... he asks me questions, like he's trying to interrogate me... and when i won't answer..." She trailed off, staring fixedly at her hands. Brennan understood. He was torturing her. And through the power of her mind, she experienced every blow as if it were real. But why? Why was Emma's mind creating these awful images? Was she subconsciously trying to torture herself about something... or was there another reason... something he was missing.

"Brennan, it's as if someone's attacking my mind. I'm afraid to close my eyes, and when i do, the dreams don't allow me any rest. I know it's stupid to be afraid, but the pain... it just feels so real..." The tears were running down her cheeks again, but when he went to comfort her she pulled away.

"No Bren, this is silly, I just need to get a grip." She grappled angrily with the sheets, finally ripping them away and climbing out of bed. Standing there in her thin nightclothes, the picture of innocence about her struck him again; a sense of sadness washed over him that something so pure should be hurting so much. Her voice was softer when she spoke again, feeling touched by the empathy radiating from him,

"I'm going to take a bath. Really Bren, don't worry, i can handle this. Thank you for listening though."

She smiled slightly. He couldn't know, but sharing her pain with him had lessened it somehow, her mind did feel slightly less heavy. Perhaps it was because of the connection they had. She had never really tried to explain it, but on some mental level, she knew that they had shared some sort of affinity since the day they had met. Her mental calm was short-lived however, being quickly replaced by a sense of guilt; that he was now suffering because of her. She closed the bathroom door behind her, in an effort to block out the strong feelings coming from him. She really wasn't ready to make sense of his emotions tonight.

Brennan continued to sit on her bed for a while, until he heard her bathwater start running, then made to move out of her room to give her some privacy. His head was spinning. He'd had his fair share of nightmares and self-recrimination- his past wasn't exactly something he was proud of. However, nothing could compare to experiencing the pain of torture, night after night. He wondered about the questions from faceless presence in her dreams. He would have asked her, but he realised she wasn't ready to discuss it any further, tonight at any rate. All Brennan knew, was that he had to do something to help her. She had trusted him... and he wasn't about to leave her alone, no matter what she said. There had to be something he could do... He lay there, pondering this for a while, until sleep finally took him.

Upon waking he was relieved that his own sleep had apparently been dreamless.

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_I'm enjoying writing this story, and i really enjoy reading your reviews : ) Thanks everyone xx_


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